Thabo Mbeki has announced his resignation from his position as South African president, a year before his term actually ends.
The shocking announcement, a first in the history of South African politics, came after a court case against ANC leader Jacob Zuma was thrown out on a technicality. The judge oversseing the trial berrated Mbeki’s government for abusing his position to wage legal vendettas against his political rivals. The Communist-ANC demanded Mbeki’s resignation after the trial’s end on Friday.
Mbeki’s resignation leaves a power vacuum that Zuma, 66, cannot fill until elections next July because he is not a lawmaker. The South African parliament will appoint a temporary president this week. Baleka Mbete, the speaker of legislature and ANC chairwoman, is frontrunner for the post.
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